Holland Daniels
Biography Early Life Holland Daniels was born in Los Angeles, California, to Jason and Camille Daniels, a banker and a homemaker, respectively. She grew up in relative comfort, and excelled in her school work, showing a particular aptitude and love for English. As she got older, she developed a love for newsprint. She enjoyed reading the editorials and opinions sections though she didn't always agree with the viewpoint. While her parents encouraged her to do what she wanted, her father didn't particularly find the idea of his only daughter going into journalism too thrilling. He knew from experience that unless you were really good and built up a following, it was hard to survive on a journalist's pay. As Holland's high school days were winding down, she had decided to become an English major. She had taken over and expanded her school's newspaper. After getting into the college of her choice, she decided to switch her major, opting for Journalism. Her father convinced her to get her Bachelors in Business as well, knowing she might need a fall back. Shortly after doing so, she decided to move to New York City, as she had gotten a job at a small magazine. She left with her parents' blessings as by now, her father realized that there would be nothing that would stop her from pursuing her dream. Her work at the magazine didn't last long. A few months into her job, some of the people who made the big decisions at the New York Times got in touch with her. They loved her work and offered her a position, which she readily accepted. Kyle Davis In addition to the New York Times, she became a contributing writer to Wayne News International after she met Isaiah Muir at a business function. She worked at the New York Times for a while, earning a reputation almost immediately for her brutal honesty and insight. After several months, she was paired with the paper's other star reporter, Kyle Davis. The two met and didn't hit it off at all. Their personalities were somewhat similar and that was only part of the problem. Though Holly put up a good defense, she was partnered up with Davis, and the two were assigned to do a piece together on the remnants of Communism in Russia. In something out of a cliched movie, their hotel bookings were messed up, and they had to share a room in every hotel they were in, coincidentally the honeymoon suite. Holland blamed Kyle, seeing as it was a clear indication that he was nothing more than a rake and a scoundrel. Davis attempted to argue his innocence, but learned quickly that he wasn't going to win an argument with his future girlfriend. They commenced work almost immediately. Holland chose to go with the grassroots option, interviewing the people while Kyle went after the story by talking to government officials. As they worked side by side, they couldn't deny the attraction that was between the two of them. Slowly, Kyle was able to unfreeze the cold ice that Holland had thrown around her heart to protect herself. Eventually, Holland realized that she did like Kyle and she relented, allowing Kyle to leave the couch of every hotel room they were in, sharing the bed with her. They worked together on the story for a while, creating a Pulitzer prize winning article that bore both of their names. After they got back from Russia, they moved in together, sharing Kyle's apartment. From there, the two became a force in the news industry, racking up accolades and awards from different organizations. They're style of reporting was biting and drove to the heart of the matter. But they also kept the human aspect of what they were doing, working it into everything they did. They didn't paint big business or corrupt officials as the bad guys, but rather, they blamed everyone for turning a blind eye to problems and issues. Everyone and anyone who had allowed the genocide or poverty or whatever the subject of their article was, all were to blame, including Kyle and Holland. They also worked with experts to devise possible solutions. As a result, their work was something that armed people with the knowledge and know how to try to fix these issue For a while, they were unstoppable, and it seemed as though nothing could tear the two apart. Holland was head over heels in love with Kyle, thinking that they would wed one day soon. The Breakup Kyle began working on a solo article. This wasn't unusual, as the two often worked outside of the team. But this piece directly implicated Holland in a big corporate scandal. However, Kyle didn't realize that it condemned Holly, nor did he realize that the information was wrong. He was being tricked in order to separate the two of them. The Davis/Daniels combination was too damaging to the bottom line of various entities. Neither knew at the time, but it was a product of the genius of some of their rivals at different papers and journals. They were going after Daniels through Davis, realizing that she was the more temperamental of the two. Kyle's article was freelance, and came out in a news source other than the Times, meaning that Holland had no way to find out before hand. She loved reading Kyle's work and so she made sure to read it as soon as it came off of the presses. Holland was angered beyond belief. She dumped him and kicked him out of the apartment that they shared. She refused to talk and he knew better than to try to apologize. He hoped to wait until she calmed down, but she continually refused to talk to him. Everywhere she went, people looked at her as if she was to blame for the scandal. She had nothing to do with it, but people believed what they read, especially when it condemned another person. Few people were angry with Davis, as he had exposed Holland's supposed connection to the corporate scandal. They believed that he had merely been doing good reporting, something the team was known for. Other major news outlets jumped behind Davis and repeatedly emphasized his article and its supposed credibility. Holland had been working at the Times for a shorter period than Davis had and he knew that she loved the New York Times. As an attempt to apologize to her, he chose to leave, opting to go freelance. In the process, he found out that his sources had been false. Though he pressured the editors print a retraction, the damage was done. The other news media refused to accept the retraction, saying that Davis was being forced to do it. The fact that he was leaving the New York Times was also used, and they said that it was because of board room politics. A Return to Normalcy In the end, Holland went back to California, to visit her parents, where her brief stay strengthened her resolve to ride out the storm of public disapproval. She knew she had done nothing wrong and she had nothing to be blamed for. Returning to New York, she went on with her life and slowly rebuilt her relationships with those she used as sources. It took her a while and it was hard in the beginning, but Holland was able to do it. She pushed all thoughts of Kyle Davis out of her mind and refused to dwell on the past. The quality of her work suffered a bit, but returned as she moved on. She decided to do things that she didn't normally do and worked on a little piece on restaurants in the city and the difficulty of the business in the busy city. During the piece, she met Christopher Frazier. He was a brilliantly skilled chef creating his own restaurant. Despite a seemingly mutual attraction, Holland knew she shouldn't be heading into a relationship so soon after what had happened with Kyle. Chris was persistent, however. He made an offer, asking that if she got him a good review with the New York Times, he would take her out to dinner. Despite her better judgment, she accepted. She didn't realize what he meant. He took her to a local grocery and had her pick out a bunch of various ingredients. Thinking that he was joking, she made her selections. Then he surprised her by taking her back to her apartment and used the ingredients to make an incredible meal. Holland made sure to get him the review that he wanted. She didn't need to do anything to make the review a good one, since his restaurant served quality food. A few days after the review came out, Holland and Chris went out on their second date. Over time, Holly opened up to Chris and began to trust him. His restaurant took off, and they got so busy that they had to bring in a friend of Chris', Gabrielle Myers to be a part time chef, when she wasn't busy with her own restaurant. Holly and Gabrielle became friends. Holly continued to write for the New York Times, and had finally achieved her goal. She was once more recognized the way she had been back when she had been working with Kyle. Unfortunately things weren't going to work out for her in the long run as planned. Abilities *'Gifted Intellect:' Holland's naturally high intellect allows her to excel in computer science and more importantly as a skilled detective. She has used her intellect in her stories and they allow her to find the truth better and faster than other people. She apparently has a firm grasp of assorted scientific techniques including biology and engineering. *'Multi-lingual:' She speaks with fluency in English, French, Spanish, and German. She has mild fluency in Mandarin. *'Skilled Combatant:' Holland is an above average athlete and has had a great deal of training in hand-to-hand combat. She spars repeatedly with people in her training area in New York City, and she has mastered Kung Fu. *'Weapons Proficiency:' Thanks to her martial arts training, Holland is proficient in wielding various different weapons. She has specialized in the katana and with knives. *'Interrogation Expert:' Holland uses many different interrogation methods to extract information from people. She never uses physical force, as that wouldn't work with her job as a reporter and as a civilian. Most of the people she talks to don't even realize that they're being "interrogated". Category: MirrodinCategory: Females (WH)Category:CiviliansCategory: Mirrodin (WoH)